The main entity in the Oklahoma State is the Oklahoma Health Care Authority that has been conceived to control the costs of medical care that is purchased from the State. You can find a number of different health care programs that are administered by the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, and each of these has a different mechanism for its funding, different standards of eligibility as well as cost structures that are meant to meet the needs of different individuals living in Oklahoma State.

Individuals Must Meet Certain Eligibility Criteria

For those individuals desirous of availing of the benefits provided by the Oklahoma Medical Authority, they must meet certain financial criteria and families having children not older than eighteen years of age are also eligible to avail of SoonerCare. The other major medical benefits provided by the Oklahoma Medical Care Authority are Medicaid, SoonerCare as well as SoonerCare Choice, Long Term Care, SoonerRide as well as State Children's Health Insurance Program.

With Medicaid, the Oklahoma Medical Authority will give health assistance to those Americans that fall in the low-income category, or who require long-term care, and are elderly as also to those people having disabilities. Medicaid is administered by the Oklahoma Medical Care Authority, which gets its funds from the Federal, State of Oklahoma as well as from local revenues.

There is also the SoonerRide health-care program that the Oklahoma HealthCare Authority has been providing since 1969 for non-emergency transportation. Also, the Oklahoma HealthCare Authority takes responsibility for reimbursing, or paying for transporting clients in both the FFS (fee-for-service) program as well as for the SoonerCare Choice program, and this program is known as the SoonerRide.

The important features of the SoonerRide health assitance program include arranging for taking clients to services covered by Medicaid. However, this service is not for an emergency situation and you also need to make an appointment at least three days prior to having your ride arranged. These rides are also available only between six in the morning to six in the evening, Monday through Friday, and between eight in the morning to one in the afternoon on Saturdays.

The other program provided by the Oklahoma's Medical Leadership called the SoonerCare Plus has been discontinued from January 1, 2004. Nevertheless, the Oklahoma Medical-Care Leadership does provide many long term care programs such as nursing facility, specialized nursing facility for mentally retarded persons, residential care homes, assisted living center, continuum of care facility, adult day care center and home care agency.